


Found Drowned

by Gaillen



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Bad things happen when magic goes wrong, Be careful with how you mix magic kids, Cor shows up for the first chapter, Despite what the title says, Gen, Gladiolus hates Flans, Hurt!noctis, I accidently referenced the Avenge the Anglers hunt, Mentioned Cindy, Mentioned pranks, Moderately severe injuries, No one drowns, Noctis Whump, Sahagins are the worst, Therefore a group of Sahagins is a Bask :), Useless Fact: A group of Crocodiles/Alligators are called a Bask, firecrackers, hunts gone wrong, it's a reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-05 21:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14627565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gaillen/pseuds/Gaillen
Summary: They need supplies if they're going to undertake the Belouve Mines for the Royal Arm hidden there so they take on a few hunts. Only one of the hunts goes very wrong.Now, Noctis is separated from the other three. He's injured, lost, and as night approaches, the risk of daemons increases. But they'll find him before that.They have to.





	1. To the Waters

**Author's Note:**

> This story is complete and is sitting pretty at 11777 words. Which means about 5 chapters or so because I try to make my chapters around 2000 words each. It may be 4 or 6 chapters though depending on how I cut it up. I'll get the next chapter up sometime before next Saturday...possibly on Wednesday. 
> 
> In any case I hope you enjoy and please, I welcome all comments. Even constructive criticism. I want to improve my writing. Also, I took two or three days to edit this but I cannot promise that it is perfect. Please point out any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors but forgive me if you see one. 
> 
> Also, when I wrote this I hadn't yet learned that Ezma is Dave's mother and I couldn't be bothered to go back and change it. So let's all pretend that Ezma had two sons: Dave and the guy who runs Mama Ezma's cafe. He might be her son since it is called Mama Ezma's...I have no idea. I'm going to stick to it.
> 
> Thank you! <3

“And here we are,” Ignis said as he pulled into a vacant parking spot between two lorries. Noctis rubbed at his eyes, tilting his head up to see the overreaching arch of the natural tunnel that Meldacio had been built within. The Hunter headquarters were just as bare-bones as normal with minimal comfort in the form of a small café and a handful of tiny caravans not designed to be more than a place to sleep for a night, but there were a few more people about than was usual. 

“Did Cor say what he wanted on the phone?” Prompto asked as he bounced out of the Regalia, spinning around to snap a photo before the others were completely out of the car. Gladiolus smirked and wrapped his hand around the lens pushing back just hard enough for the younger man to stumble slightly and to receive an indignant squawk. 

“No,” Ignis answered, shutting the doors behind Noctis and himself. “But I’m sure that whatever the Marshal wanted, it is most likely important.” 

Noctis had already started across the road towards the little outdoor café ran out of old Mama Ezma’s kitchen. He could see Cor sitting at one of the tables, idly scrolling through his mobile phone as he waited for them. Gladiolus caught up with him and fell into step just behind his left shoulder as he usually did whenever they were in an outpost or town. 

“Important or not, we’ve got nothing better to do until Cid finishes the repairs to the King’s old ship,” the Shield said and Ignis conceded his point. 

“Hello, Cor,” Noctis said when they were near the man. He had seen their approach and had dropped his phone back into his pocket. “We’re here. What did you want?”

“Sit down first,” Cor ordered causally and they obeyed, falling into chairs around the table. They didn’t even get to speak before Mama Ezma’s son had already set down plates of skewers before each of them. “Sorry for bringing you all the way up to Meldacio but Dave has asked my help with a problem that he has in the Vesperpool. Otherwise I would have met you at Cape Caem.” 

Noctis made a dismissive noise around his mouthful of meat before he swallowed. “Is that why you called us? The ‘problem’?”

“That I can deal with myself. No, I called you for a different reason. Are any of you familiar with the Belouve Mines?” 

“I heard about them while we were in Longwythe,” Ignis said. “Mostly that there’ve been people that have gone missing around the mines, particularly in recent times. At the time, it was relatively unimportant and I didn’t inquire further. My apologies.” 

Cor nodded. “Well, the reports of people going missing are true. Some hunters were asked to look into it but only two of them survived the expedition. One of them had fallen and badly twisted his ankle in a mineshaft and another had helped him out while the others went on. But they brought back with them some miner’s reports that had been in the mine’s office.”

Ignis accepted the folder that the Marshal handed him and began to flip through it, his lips moving silently as he read. 

“The reports,” Cor continued for the other three’s benefit, “say that during the excavation they came across what they thought was a natural cave but had a manmade structure within it. And the guardian of the Lucis Caelum bloodline carved in the lintel above the door.”

“A royal tomb?” Noctis jolted, leaning forward.

“It would appear so,” Ignis commented, flipping one of the papers around. “It seems that one of the miners was a bit of an artist.” 

They all crowded around to look closely at the charcoal drawing. It was smudged but what was clearly the door to a royal tomb took up the main part of the drawing. Noctis took it reverently and studied the stonework that the long-ago artist had faithfully copied.

“A royal tomb means a royal arm,” Gladiolus said. “We going to go get it?” 

“Hell yeah!” Prompto shouted. “We haven’t anything better to do at the moment and my man Noct needs all the royal arms he can get his hands on.” Noctis was, evidently, in complete agreement. 

“Not to rain upon your parade, as it were, Prompto.” Ignis caught the younger man’s arm and forcefully returned him to his seat. “But if many of the things that have been said about the Belouve Mines are true then we are not prepared to undertake the venture. We will need more supplies than we currently have available.” 

“Well, then, I guess we need to go shopping,” Noctis said. 

“With what money, Highness?” Ignis’ subtle sarcasm and the use of the title gained him nothing but a silent scowl from the prince. Cor stood and looked down at all of them.

“I gave you the information and I’ll leave you to decide what to do with it.” The Marshal gave a hard look at Ignis and Gladiolus. “Just don’t forget what your priority is.” 

“Sir,” Gladiolus and Ignis echoed and Cor left after slipping some gil down to pay for their meal. 

“Well?” Noctis asked, looking between the two older men. 

Ignis sighed. “It is a royal tomb and we were charged with finding the royal arms,” he admitted. “Also, Prompto does have a point. Until Cid can finish the repairs on his Majesty’s ship, we are stranded here and should make use of the time efficiently. Our only issue is the supplies. We are very low on curatives and the money to buy more.” 

“So, we need to make some gil,” Gladiolus confirmed and stood to stretch. “I’ll go see what hunts are available. There should be two or three we can handle easily.”

“I’ll come with you.” Prompto leapt up and the two went to investigate the bounties board. Ignis looked to Noctis, who was once again examining the charcoal drawing carefully. 

“If you want to keep it, you can,” the older man said and Noctis gave a hesitant nod. “Let’s see what we can find out about the Mines.” And Ignis spread out a slightly-faded and yellowed map of the mines on the table in front of him. 

0-o-0-o-0

Gladiolus and Prompto had returned, triumphantly, some ten minutes later with three hunts that were relatively simple. At least they were all creatures that the four had taken on before. 

The first of the hunts – in Kelbass Grasslands – had been a herd of Arba watched over by the massive Arbagadol and, while there had been a small inconvenience involving Prompto and his camera at the wrong time, the herd had been wiped out rather easily. 

The second hunt was just inside of the Vesperpool. Three Cockatrice and their twenty Chickatrice offspring had taken up residence under the bridge just outside of Meldacio and where attacking all the vehicles that passed – they had already sent two lorries careening off the bridge.

Ignis had set about collecting the meat from the birds following their demise, which was not unusual, but he had gone through the pain of collecting more than they needed. The reason, it turned out, was because the advisor had gone to sell the fresh meat to Mama Ezma’s son when they returned to claim their bounty. It had landed them an extra two thousand gil.

Ignis made them lunch of the Chickatrice meat he hadn’t sold – thinly cut and deep-fried fillet sandwiches with some deliciously homemade salad cream – before they headed out on the third hunt. This one was much further away than the other two; out near the Burbost Souvenir Emporium.

“Back here? Again?” Noctis sighed as they pulled into a parking spot of the Emporium. 

“At least we don’t have to go crawling around inside a dark and freezing cave this time,” Prompto said, his chuckle weak. His skin broke into gooseflesh and he shivered, rubbing at his arms. 

It wasn’t so much the memory of the cold as it was the memory of the cave itself. The ceiling had been high above them and the tunnels were so wide that he sometimes couldn’t even see the walls but he still felt the weight of earth pressing upon him and he could still smell the musty, wet mould scent of dirt and rock. 

Noctis’ hand landed on his shoulder and he jolted with surprise.

The prince considered him silently and his expression was that unreadable one that he gained when he didn’t want anyone to know what he was thinking. Ignis, much to the older man’s chagrin, wasn’t even able to decipher his thoughts when he adopted the expression. But it was a look that would no doubt serve the prince well when he was finally ruling his kingdom. And it was interesting that King Regis’ features were so evident in the look. 

Noctis squeezed his shoulder gently before letting his hand drop.

“Indeed,” Ignis agreed. “Luckily our targets are simply at the river’s fork but I am little worried about the hunt’s mention of a mutated Sahagin in the bask.” 

“There wasn’t more information about it on the handbill?” Gladiolus asked, leaning over the guardrail to peer down at Ignis already on the steps to Callatein’s Plunge. The advisor paused and titled his head back to look up at the older man, some two feet above him. 

“Do you really think I wouldn’t have mentioned it if there was?” The Shield shrugged and Ignis continued down the stairs without another word. 

“Iggy?” Prompto said, leaping the last four steps so he landed – slightly crouched – at Ignis’ side. “Can we have a hotel tonight or at least rent the caravan?”

Ignis didn’t say anything for a few seconds but the way his brow furrowed and his eyes darted back and forth across the path made it obvious he was calculating something in his head. “We may be able to swing a night in the caravan but it would be best if we collected scales from the creatures, they sell well in Meldacio.” 

“Why?” Noctis asked, his face breaking its normal passivity to flicker with disgust. 

“Armour,” Gladiolus said. “Stuff is strong against slashing weapons. So, use your lances, you two.” Ignis and Noctis nodded. 

The conversation cut off sharply as they came to the bend of the path leading to the river and they all dropped to a crouch, pausing just at the edge of the rocks. They silently considered the bask of six Sahagin sunning themselves on the rocks at the river’s edge and Ignis indicated to the one almost pure white Sahagin perched on the right-hand side of the bask, its mouth open as it laid there. It was much bigger than the others.

“That must be the mutated one,” Ignis whispered. “I will remind you that these things are dangerous if they get a hold of you.”

“I think that’s true of all creatures,” Noctis whispered back and Ignis gave him a stern look. The prince fell silent. 

“Noctis, Prompto. You two will be our distraction. Prompto, can you climb to that cluster of boulders?” Ignis pointed. Prompto gazed at it for a moment and then nodded. “Good. Scatter your attack; we’ll wait until you are positioned to begin. Noct, pick your target; Gladio and myself will join in from here. Understood?” 

He received a voiceless confirmation from each of them and they watched silently as Prompto crept to the boulder cluster. He disappeared for a short time and when they saw him again, he was perched on a boulder high enough to see the potential battleground but close enough to be able to leap down at a moment’s notice. 

The glittering flash of his pistol as he summoned it was all the signal they needed and Noctis conjured his lance, taking a moment to observe the beasts before he launched the weapon at one heading towards the water and disappeared in blue light a split second later.

The lance buried into the Sahagin’s hard scales alongside its dorsal fin, drawing from it a pained roar, and the prince almost instantly materialized with it. As soon as the prince had appeared alongside the lance, bullets rained down indiscriminately amongst the creatures sending the Sahagin into a panic as they could not locate the source of the lethal hail.

Two of the creatures noticed Noctis, viciously jabbing his spear at the neck joint of his Sahagin, and came running at him. It was always surprising just how fast these creatures could move on their short legs and dragging their bellies against the ground. Noctis warped away as his Sahagin collapsed, dead, and as Gladiolus and Ignis arrived to help. 

The Shield was using his broadsword as less of a chopping weapon and more as a giant mace, completely breaking the back of the Sahagin that he had pounced upon. It wouldn’t kill the thing but it would damn well incapacitate it. 

Ignis moved with more grace and elegance, aiming at the joints of his Sahagin with precise thrusts of his lance and sliding away as the creature snapped its maw at him. A bullet hit the beast at the base of its tail and the Sahagin reared back, giving the advisor an opening to plunge the lance into its throat. He twisted the weapon and held it there as the beast writhed in its death throes, yanking it out only after the creature fell still at his feet. 

“Ignis! All Business!” Came Prompto’s chant as he leapt from his boulder to bound into the fight and Ignis couldn’t help the pleased smirk that crossed his face. 

The Sahagin that had been Gladiolus’ first target was writhing on the ground nearby, unable to move with its broken back, and he quickly put the poor beast out of its misery before taking a quick surveying glance of the battle field. 

Gladiolus was currently terrorising another of the creatures with a look that was slightly too gleeful and Noctis was dancing away from the snapping jaws of another, glittering with magic as he did so. Prompto was jumping around the edges of the battle and was alternating between firing his gun and firing his camera. 

Ignis took a quick count of their foes and frowned. That was only five Sahagin…where was the sixth, the albino? 

“Gladio, get them together! Let’s finish with a bang,” Noctis called and fished about before bringing up two flasks, one swirling with intense white-blue and the other red. Gladiolus had swatted his Sahagin over to crash into Noctis’ like he was batting a ball. 

Several things happened then nearly all at the same time. 

The water behind Noctis exploded up and out and the albino Sahagin came thundering out of the water, charging with a speed unnatural for its normal coloured companions.

Prompto had screamed Noctis’ name in warning too late as the Sahagin bowled into the back of the prince’s legs, tossing its head. Noctis slammed into the creature’s back, his shirt and the skin beneath tearing upon the Sahagin’s sharp dorsal fin, before he slid to the side and collapsed to the ground in a daze. 

The thing had the prince’s leg in its jaws before anyone could react – Noctis screaming with the pain– and was dragging the young man into the river while simultaneously shaking the prince’s body back and forth like he was a rag doll. Noctis was disturbingly still and limp in the thing’s maw when it paused its ruthless attack to slip into the water.

Gladiolus roared angrily and he charged at the creature but then all hell broke loose and he was knocked from his feet before he could come to his liege’s rescue. 

The two flasks of magic had flown from the prince’s hands as he was struck, curving upwards before they came back down. The blizzaga spell hit the ground first, only a few feet from the river’s edge, and great crests of ice shot up to spiral out from the point of impact and the river froze – Noctis and the Sahagin trapped within the ice. 

Ignis was knocked off his feet as well and his lips turned blue and his skin white but Gladiolus caught more of the magic and his skin immediately blistered and tore with the intensity of the cold. Prompto was far enough away to receive little more than an extreme chill but one couldn’t imagine what damage it had done to Noctis, trapped in the river.

The fira spell landed only a second behind it and Gladiolus could manage little more than a pained whine as his skin burned and blistered even more under the heat, still trying desperately to reach his prince. He writhed across the ground only to find that his body refused to move. 

The ice from the first spell started melting under the fire from the second and water flooded into the river with amazing force, breaking off bits of the bank and sweeping everything it could grab on the flood. 

And Noctis vanished beneath the roiling waves.

“The river! Noctis!” Ignis cried out and shot towards the river but, in his panic, he had forgotten about the two Sahagin they had not finished off. 

One was too badly injured to move but the other pounced on the advisor as Ignis got close to it. Ignis lifted his arms in a desperate attempt to defend his face and throat from the snapping jaws, the things claws cutting into his side and legs. He cried out as the beast’s jaws locked around his arm and the creature surely would have ripped his arm off if not for Prompto coming to his rescue.

A few well-placed bullets put paid to it and Ignis stumbled to his feet, ignoring the blood pouring from the torn puncture wounds on his arm and long scratches. The only thing on his mind was the desperate need to find Noctis, to make sure the prince was alive and was safe.

Gladiolus – now back on his feet, though still looking as if he had been pushed through a meat grinder, after a potion – had caught the collar of his jacket and yanked him back before the younger man could do something foolish like fling himself into the roiling water. 

“Don’t,” the Shield said. “He won’t be there and we can’t afford to have you swept off to. We need to search the banks going downstream.” 

Prompto had already taken off down the bank and was casting his eyes from rushing water to the bank as he went and Gladiolus began wading through the other river leading back to the waterfall to follow him. The Shield kept his hand locked firmly around Ignis’ wrist. 

Ignis used the hand around his wrist and his pain to anchor himself, trying to regulate his panicked breathing. He had helped Prompto and even Noctis through enough panic attacks to know that he needed to breath regularly or he would pass out. Mentally, Ignis began charting out the river’s course as he had seen it on the map – the focus helped.

Gladiolus grunted as Ignis yanked backwards suddenly and turned to look at the advisor’s widened, horrified eyes.

“Gladio,” Ignis gasped, “the river splits. If he’s swept into the canal…”

Gladiolus cursed. If Noctis was swept into the canal, then he would be shredded and tossed into the sea with no chance of helping him. Gladiolus took off after Prompto’s rapidly shrinking figure, Ignis only a second behind him, and prayed to any and all of the Six that Noctis was sent into the river channel and not the canal. 

They could not fail their prince.


	2. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second Chapter.
> 
> Probably won't be as intense as the first chapter but hopefully you all will like it as well. Thank you for your comments and your kudos. I greatly appreciate it.

Daylight had taken on an orange hue and shadows had grown larger where they clung when Noctis felt the first twinges of consciousness return to him.

His fingers twitched against river pebbles and sand but even that tiny movement sent pain lancing through him, driving him further into lucidity. His chest felt like a large chunk of icy cold stone rested upon it and within it at the same time and his breathing was difficult – more like pained, whiny gasps than actual breaths. 

And everything hurt. 

Noctis tried to open his eyes only to find that one eye had been sealed shut with a combination of crusted blood and dirt. He moved his hand towards it and had to stop as his side screamed with his pain, a whimper forcing itself from his mouth. He could do nothing but lay there for a moment as pain roiled through his body and he tried to convince himself to move. 

He braced himself and gritted his teeth as he shifted his arms before pushing himself up to his elbows, barely biting back the pained cry as he did so.

The river had thrown him up into a small cove. He was laying on the sandy shore of the cove, his legs still in the water, but it was apparent that the river had once covered the entire area. The embankment almost directly across from him had been cut into and it had created a sort of shelter with the overhang, vegetation hanging from the ledge like a natural curtain. 

He gazed up at the embankment in dismay. It was nearly eight feet high and there was no way he would be able to scale it without warping, an act that he most definitely knew he would not have the energy nor strength to perform for a while. A painful spasm in his chest suddenly had him coughing and each cough forced tears to leak from his good eye. 

It hurt so much. 

When the coughing had finally subsided, and reduced him to pained wheezing, he took stock of his injuries. He was covered in bruises and cuts from the wild ride down the river. There was a gash above his right eye, which was what had sealed it closed, and he had at least one broken rib, not to mention the bloody slice in his back from the Sahagin’s fin. His left wrist was most definitely sprained but didn’t quite feel broken, so as long as he kept it still it didn’t hurt too badly.

His leg was the worst of it, the skin torn and bloody below the knee and to about halfway down his shin and a little further down his calf. It pulsed with pain as the river run over it and he could see that the water was drawing out blood even now. That meant he really needed to move out of the water and the thought of moving at all made him nauseous but he could feel the light-headed dizziness that told him he had already lost too much blood as it was. 

A tiny, cautious twitch of his leg told him that he would not be able to walk on the injury.

“Okay, Noct…” he rasped, his throat felt raw and his chest throbbed but his own voice was a comfort to him, “you can do this.”

He summoned a dagger and plunged it into the ground as far as he could reach. He gritted his teeth as he steeled himself for the next part and then pulled, a cry ripping from his throat as he dragged his body across the ground and away from the river. Instead of stopping as he reached the weapon, he yanked it out and repeated the manoeuvre again. If he stopped now, he would succumb to his pain and collapse. 

It took nearly fifteen minutes to cross the cove’s seven-foot-wide shore and fully drag himself into the sheltered overhang, ignoring the dirt that fell as he brushed the hanging vegetation aside. It was barely big enough for him to sit in and he reached down to pull his leg the rest of the way in, wiping angrily at the tears on his face as he did. He was shaking badly now and his head swam but he forced the black dancing in his vision away and removed his jacket, wrapping it as tight as he could manage around his bloody leg. 

He fumbled into his pocket for his mobile phone, finding the device to be dead – no doubt from the river – and whimpered lightly which turned into more pained coughs. 

He didn’t bother searching for a potion. 

He knew he didn’t have any. 

Daylight was very quickly disappearing and that meant that daemons would be appearing soon. He shuddered and pressed further into the tiny shelter, trying to huddle into the smallest ball he could with his injuries. 

Noctis was all alone, injured, and darkness was beginning to fall.

0-o-0-o-0

They had run the bank searching desperately for the missing prince. Prompto – with all the experience of a long-distance marathon runner – had set the pace, making sure to conserve their energy while moving at a constant speed. Gladiolus matched his stride with only a little difficulty but Ignis was beginning to flag. 

He had kept up to the others gamely but his strength was waning and he was dropping further and further back, gasping with breath. Ignis was no slouch but he wasn’t as fit for a prolonged run as the other two were. As it was, he had been running on sheer desperation for the last twenty or so yards.

Gladiolus noticed. “Iggy, you doing okay back there?” 

“I...will…admit…to…to some…difficulty,” the advisor gasped. He finally had to come to a stop and leaned against his knees, panting. He tried to force himself back up and into a run as he heard the others slow and stop. They didn’t have time for his weakness. They had to find Noctis. 

Gladiolus caught him as he stumbled, the Shield’s chest was heaving with his own exertion. “Killing yourself isn’t going to help Noct,” he grumbled. 

“The side of the ravine has fallen in,” Prompto said, his own breath short, and kicked miserably at a boulder. 

Sure enough, a treacherous pile of scree stretched out across the bank and partially into the rapids of the river. It would not be impossible to scale but it would take time that they really could not afford to waste. The only other option was to backtrack until they reached a point that they could climb out of the shallow ravine the river currently wove through. Who knew how long that would take.

Prompto yanked his mobile phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. It was nearing five and the sun would start going down soon. His eyes widened. They had little less than three hours to find Noctis before the daemons started prowling. The others seemed to understand the reason behind his panicked expression and Gladiolus’ lips thinned into a determined line, still holding a winded Ignis up. 

Prompto wanted to start climbing right then but Ignis really wasn’t looking good. It wasn’t just the exhaustion from the run, either. The man hadn’t taken a moment to do anything about his injured arm and the other various hurts, though he had stopped bleeding a while ago and, apart from his arm, none of the injuries were very deep.

Now that he had a second to notice it, Gladiolus was just as rough looking. The potion he had downed had done little with the extent of his injuries.

“Oh gods.” The blond lurched forward for half a step and then stopped. “Do you need a potion?” He asked one and both of them.

Ignis vehemently shook his head, his breath still short but much better than before. “We only have…three left. If Noctis is badly hurt…”

“What did I say?” Gladiolus growled. “We’re of no use to Noct if we kill ourselves.” 

Ignis tried to force himself to stand under his own power and his movement scrapped his arm against Gladiolus’ belt, causing him to hiss with pain and the wounds to begin bleeding again. 

“Prom, crack open one of the potions,” Gladiolus ordered and turned to Ignis when the other tried to protest. “We’re going to share it. That’ll leave two for the princess when we find him. You—” And Gladiolus manhandled Ignis until the advisor was sitting on a boulder— “are going to sit here and let Prompto bandage those injuries after you drink the potion.” 

“Gladio, stop. We don’t have time.” Ignis’ hand landed on the bigger man’s wrist and he looked as if he was about to flip Gladiolus over his shoulder. An act that the Shield was well aware Ignis was capable of… if he was at full strength and with the right leverage. Ramuh knows he’d been flipped on his back more than once by the slighter man. He sighed and decided to shove his pride in his pocket for the moment.

“Listen to me. Neither you nor I are really capable of climbing that right now.” He jerked his thumb at the landslide. “It’ll be all the worst for us if we let our own injuries fester and if we can’t get to him by nightfall then we’ll have to deal with daemons. He needs us to be as close to full strength as possible.” 

Ignis glowered but was unable to refute the older man’s logic. He snatched the potion out of Prompto’s hand and downed half of it in a mouthful before allowing Gladiolus to pull it from his grasp. Ignis admitted to himself that he had needed the potion as the pain he had been stubbornly ignoring eased and Gladiolus was looking a bit better. 

But he scowled darkly at the older man over Prompto’s head anyways. He did not appreciate the Shield’s strong-arm tactics in anyway. Undeterred, Gladiolus scowled right back.

Prompto tied off the surprisingly neat bandage around Ignis’ arm and moved to Gladiolus to wrap his wounds. He moved with the skill and efficiency of someone use to binding injuries and Ignis wondered about that for just a moment as he pulled his shirt back on.

A mystery for another day. 

Prompto finished and went to put the medical supplies away but Ignis stopped him.

“What about you, Prompto? Are you injured?” 

“I’m fine. Only a bruise or two but nothing that’s bleeding.” Prompto gave a strained smile that faltered after only a moment, his thoughts far away. Gladiolus was up and considering the landslide with all the care of a man studying the proper way to chop down a tree and he turned to the others. 

“Go slowly,” he said. “Prompto, you’re the lightest so you’ll go first. Test each foot hold before putting your weight on it.” 

Prompto did as ordered without a word and Ignis followed just behind him. Gladiolus brought up the rear, praying silently that they would find Noctis in the next two hours. He didn’t want to think about the prince being alone in the darkness as daemons prowled about.

0-o-0-o-0

Noctis jerked awake at the sound of the shrieking chitter above him. When had he even closed his eyes? 

He pressed a shaking hand to his mouth and fought to keep his lips closed so his coughs wouldn’t be heard. His side burned with each spasm and tears forced themselves from his eyes. Eventually the coughs died away and he reached up to wipe away the tears on his cheeks. 

He had managed to clean his right eye enough for it to open and had made a mental note in the process to apologize to Ignis for scoffing at the older man’s insistence that Noctis carry a handkerchief around. Said handkerchief – though now filthy – was currently wrapped as tightly about his left wrist as he could manage one handed in a makeshift bandage. 

He had fallen into a state of indifference at some point. He still hurt everywhere but he was so mentally separated from his body that the pain had been dulled and his body couldn’t seem to decide if it was too hot or too cold. His leg pulsed with agony and his back burned. He knew, though the knowledge was admittedly vague, that his movements against the overhang had ground the dirt into his back injury as well as thoroughly coating him with mud.

He slowly dropped his hand back to the hilt of the dagger in his lap and tried to press even further into his tiny alcove as the chitter sounded again. It was fully dark now and nearly pitch black, the wane light of the moon barely reached pass the hanging vegetation and into the recess, so Noctis was forced to sit in near darkness. 

He didn’t even know what time it was. His phone had been damaged in the river. He wasn’t too worried about the device; Prompto was a genius when it came to electronics and the blond would have it fixed in no time – with the right equipment.

He had feared, at first, that the daemons would see the marks from when he had dragged himself across the ground and into the overhang and then he had feared that they would smell his blood. He wasn’t even sure that they could smell his blood…or his fear. 

He hadn’t felt this frightened of anything since he was a child…since the accident. Gods, how he wished the others were here. 

All he wanted to do was sleep and hopefully wake up to find that all this was just a dream. 

His eyes snapped open – he hadn’t realized they had closed – as the Arachne’s chitter was accompanied by the creaking metallic sound that heralded the arrival of an Iron Giant. Noctis forgot how to breathe for just a moment as the overhang shuddered with the daemon’s movements, sending dirt scattering down around him. But it seemed for now that the daemons were more interested in fighting each other than in finding any humans foolish enough to be out in the darkness. 

Noctis dropped his head to his knees and shook, huddled as far as he could into the alcove.


	3. And from the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I just checked the remainder of the story and it'll be a total of four chapters. So here's the third chapter and I'll post the last of it on Wednesday. Once again thank you for reading, reviewing, and giving kudos. I appreciate it, truly.

Gladiolus bellowed as he brought his great sword down onto the ruby coloured Flan. The daemon’s gelatinous body merely warped under the blow, curving inward under the sword which left it mostly unscathed.

He _hated_ these things. 

They were nearly impervious to physical attacks and they made Gladiolus feel irritatingly superfluous. Angrily, he jerked his sword back and used the flat of the blade like a bat to knock the Flan head over heels away from him. Seeing the thing stumbling as it moved back to…whatever counted as the thing’s feet made him feel a little better. 

He looked around the battle to check on the others. Both Prompto and Ignis were having better luck than him. Prompto was wielding the massive circular saw and bits of gelatine were flying about as he went at the Flan, the daemon unable to distort its body away from the rotating blade. He was also yelling some very creative curses at the creature. 

Gladiolus seriously didn’t think the thing had the anatomy necessary to do half the things Prompto was suggesting it do.

Ignis was in even better shape. He had always been more in tune with magic than Gladiolus had been and was using the small stock pile of weak magic spells Noctis had made for him with devastating results. Grumbling, the Shield stomped after the Flan he had been tormenting, even as the daemon was sliming its way slowly back to him.

He wrapped both hands around his sword as he swung it up and over his head before bringing it down onto the creature. This time he put all his weight behind the blow and was pleased when the Flan couldn’t warp its body far enough to avoid it. The damage done though was not nearly as much as Gladiolus had wanted, already it was ‘gloop’-ing back together, but it was enough to give him hope. 

Ignis finished off the last of the Flans he had been facing and was about to ask the Shield if he needed help when the bigger man brought his sword down a final time onto the creature. It squealed and bubbled as it melted in black ichor before fading. Prompto had also finished his Flan off and was leaning on a rock to regain his breath, his hands vibrating from using the circular saw so long. 

“I was going to ask if you needed help from such a _gooey_ situation,” Ignis said. “But you seem to have _jiggled_ your way out of it.”

Gladiolus grunted, flexing his hands out to relieve the cramps caused by gripping his sword so tightly. “I was fine,” he grumbled. “I can handle a Flan on my own.” 

That being said, he was glad that this was one battle that they weren’t keeping track of how many enemies they each killed. He really didn’t like losing to Ignis…or anyone for that matter. 

“I’m sure,” Ignis commented drily. Prompto snorted and straightened, jogging after the other two. 

The light, playful banter did very little to ease their concern however. It was fully dark now and they still had not found Noctis. All sorts of dreadful possibilities had flashed through their minds and, though they were all thinking it, they all refused to speak them out loud. 

They had passed the spilt in the river – one way leading into the canal and the other down past Fort Vaullerey – some two hours ago and had decided to continue along the river bank in the, possibly silly, hope that Noctis had been swept that way. 

The Flans had been the second battle that they had fought since night had fallen – the first had been a small hoard of Goblins – and they were lucky that they had faced nothing else. Even so, they were all exhausted and hungry. 

And the longer they went without locating the prince, the more agitated they all became. As it was they had just barely avoided sniping at each other – mainly because the constant threat of daemons had left them little energy to argue. 

Gladiolus considered the bend in the river they had come across, the river bank ending abruptly at the rocks before the bend. He flashed his torch down into the water and sucked his teeth for just a moment before taking a cautious step into the river. 

Satisfied when the water only came to up to his shins, he moved forward to peer around the bend and stumbled back with a curse, grabbing both Prompto and Ignis and yanking them down behind the rocks. Ignis bit back the complaint on his tongue when they all heard the chitter of an Arachne and the roar of an Iron Giant coming from the other side of the bend. 

“Oh, my gods,” Prompto breathed. Gladiolus pressed his finger to his lips hard and shuffled forward as quietly in the water as was possible so he could see around the bend. A small cove opened in the side of the embankment and there was an Arachne and Iron Giant in some sort of dispute on top of the bank. 

The cove was empty and Gladiolus had almost pulled his head back around the rocks when the flash of something silver behind a hanging curtain of vegetation caught his attention. He focused on it and stared hard trying to determine what it had been. A shadowy outline of something shifted behind the curtain and Gladiolus felt a great amount of conflicting emotions when the hilt of a dagger slid out from under the edge of the curtain. 

It was a very, very familiar dagger. 

Gladiolus disappeared back behind the rocks and sucked in a sharp breath. Ignis looked at him intently, seeing something in his eyes that had the advisor on edge. Gladiolus grabbed the younger man’s hand and spelled out with his finger on Ignis’s palm:

‘ _Noctis_ ’

Ignis’s lips thinned. Prompto was chewing his lower lip, glancing between the two. He had seen and understood what Gladiolus had spelled on Ignis’ palm and his anxiety was making him twitch. 

Ignis silently indicated for Gladiolus to move aside and the Shield complied, allowing Ignis to peer around the rocks and into the cove. He, too, saw the glint of the dagger’s hilt and studied the alcove that Noctis was hiding within before turning his face towards the two daemons on the embankment. 

The angle would be an issue. The two daemons had the high ground and they had no way to gage Noctis’ health from here. He had no idea if the prince would be in even greater danger should they act or if he would be able to fight alongside them. His eyes glanced back down to where the dagger’s hilt stuck out from under the curtain. It hadn’t moved and the shadowy form he could only vaguely make out hadn’t moved either. 

Judging by that, it was very unlikely that Noctis was conscious. 

Ignis pulled back out of sight and frowned, deep lines forming on his brow. How on Eos would they get Noctis out of this mess? 

Noctis was, at the moment, relatively safe. He had found a hidden shelter and the daemons were unaware of his presence. That could all change in a moment of course but he hoped that it would at least give him time to come up with a plan. He was distracted as Prompto flashed his mobile phone at him, the note taking function open on the screen.

\-- _he okay_

Ignis shook his head, taking the phone from him.

\-- _I don’t know. Need plan. Ideas?_

Gladiolus and Prompto both read the message he had typed and shared an uneasy look. The Shield settled back on his heels, brow furrowing with concentration, and Prompto took to studying the landscape in the hope that something would occur to him. 

They set in silence for a few moments. 

Then Prompto’s eyes lit up and he yanked at Ignis’ sleeve to gain the older man’s attention. Ignis watched as the blond dug into a pocket before coming up with a handful of small firecrackers and grinning at him over them. Why he had such things in his pocket, neither Ignis nor Gladiolus wanted to know, but instantly Ignis understood the insane and brilliant plan that the younger man had just come up with. 

Ignis nodded and sent the blond a thumbs-up. Gladiolus watched dumbly as Prompto began to wiggle his way carefully back the way they come and up the slanted bank. He disappeared into the darkness and the Shield looked at the advisor. Ignis already had his mobile out and was typing away, furiously.

\-- _Distraction. Daemons will go towards the explosions. When they leave, we must get Noct. Continue down river. Close to Malmalam Thicket. Go to Telghey Haven._

Gladiolus nodded and hunkered down to wait. Prompto came sliding back towards them silently a few minutes later. Just in time, as a few seconds after that they could all hear the popping explosions of the firecrackers some distance away. The shrieks of the daemons echoed around them and Ignis watched as the two horrors sped off towards the sounds. As soon as they were out of range the three were sprinting across the cove’s beach to the overhang. 

Gladiolus reached it first and was sweeping the vegetation aside to reveal Noctis’ limp and filthy form a second later. They didn’t have time to really focus on assessing the prince’s condition and Gladiolus bundled Noctis over his shoulder, hoping that he wasn’t doing irreparable damage to the young man with his rough treatment. 

Noctis was making little pained sounds even while unconscious.

Prompto scooped up the dagger and dismissed it as they ran towards the river and splashed into it, wading downstream as the water reached Prompto’s – the smallest of them all – waist. 

The river spread out and became shallower the closer they came to the thicket and they were able to move with more speed. The bank also lowered enough – a few metres further down – for them to scramble up out of the water and they took off running as they heard the ominous sounds of a daemon’s arrival. 

With such precious and defenceless cargo, they couldn’t afford to get into a fight with one the eldritch creatures right now. 

They could see the bright lights of the Malmalam Thicket car park through the trees now and Gladiolus made for it, not daring to look back as gunshots rang out behind him. He sprinted into the lights and skidded to a stop, blowing like a bellows. Swinging around to look for the others sent him stumbling to his knees but he didn’t try to return to his feet; instead, he curled protectively around the limp form of his prince. 

Ignis sprinted into the lights and placed himself between Gladiolus and whatever daemon had been chasing them, brandishing his daggers, before Prompto cartwheeled into the beam. The blond ended up on his back and laid there with his gun cocked and pointing out into the darkness. 

The daemon that had chased them into the lights – an Arachne, as Gladiolus now saw – shrieked and recoiled from the bright intensity. It screeched at them angrily as it danced on the outside edge of the light for a few moments before shrieking again and scurrying off in search of easier prey. 

No one moved for a few minutes, panting lightly as they waited to be sure the daemons would not bother them while under the protection of the lights, and then Ignis was scrambling to Gladiolus’ side. The Shield instinctively tensed, his grip tightening around Noctis, when he felt him being moved but a second later he realized that it was Ignis and relaxed his hold. 

“Lay him out flat. Carefully,” Ignis instructed, bracing Noctis’ head as Gladiolus did as he was bid. Ignis shucked his jacket and bundled it up under Noctis’ head. 

“He has a fever,” the Shield said. “I felt the heat rolling off him as we were running.” Ignis grimly concurred. 

“Gods, he looks terrible,” Prompto gasped, dropping to his knees at the prince’s feet. 

And Noctis did look terrible. Blood – mixed with mud – from a gash over his right brow coated half his face and crusted his lashes together. It looked like Noctis had rubbed away at it at some point and they could see the edges of a vicious bruise around his eye under the muck. Ignis summoned a dagger and he slid it under Noctis’ filthy shirt, slicing up the fabric to remove it. 

“Oh, he definitely has broken ribs,” Gladiolus hissed at the black that extended over the left side of Noctis’ chest. The Shield very carefully pressed his hands over the area and felt along Noctis’ ribs, silently apologizing to the prince when he stirred with the pain. Moving him so roughly had obviously aggravated it. “I only feel that one is broken but there might be a few cracked.” 

“We’ll bind it as tightly as we can as soon as we can,” Ignis replied. Prompto had moved around to Noctis’ head as soon as he had started writhing from the pain of Gladiolus’ examination and he gently ran his fingers through the muddy ebony strands. 

“It’s okay, buddy. We’ve got you,” he whispered to him and watched the older two work, wincing at each new injury they uncovered. 

“His wrist is sprained,” Ignis murmured, more to himself than the others. “He did good to bind it.” And he very gently held up the handkerchief bound wrist. Gladiolus’ lips twitched into something vaguely resembling the start of a smile. 

A small proud smile.

“Look how he bound his leg, Specs.” The Shield very gently began to unwind Noctis’ jacket from around the prince’s leg. It was sealed to his skin with dried blood and the bigger man cursed as removing the jacket caused the injury to start sluggishly bleeding again. Ignis only managed a quick look before Gladiolus pressed the jacket back against the leg.

“It’s good he wrapped it to stop the bleeding,” Ignis sighed, reaching up to adjusted his glasses, “but from what I could see, infection seems to be setting in.” 

“What do we do?” Prompto asked, running his hands constantly over Noctis’ sweating brow and through his hair in an attempt to soothe the moaning prince. 

“We need to get to the haven.” Ignis looked over at the tell-tale blue lights of the haven, only a few yards away from where they were safely ensconced. “I don’t like moving him now that we know about his ribs but we can’t do anything here. Gladio?”

“I think I’ve recovered enough to run again,” the Shield reassured him. “I’ll try to hold him as still as possible.”

“Good. Prompto, you and I will engage anything that tries to attack and give Gladio a straight shot to the haven. Understood?” 

“Loud and clear,” Prompto said. After carefully securing the unconscious prince in Gladiolus’ arms, they made a mad dash for the haven and were lucky enough that nothing tried to trouble them between the two points. 

Prompto conjured a sleeping bag from the ether and spread it out on the rock so that Gladiolus could carefully settle Noctis down before he and the Shield went about setting up the camp – an arduous task with little light but Ignis needed the lamps more. Ignis knelt by the prince and began unloading the medical supplies from his pack, setting the only two potions they had down carefully beside him. 

He gingerly set about cutting Noctis’ clothes from around him, not even trying to save the ruined garments, and used a towel to protect his modesty. In the process, he discovered the gash across his back from the Sahagin’s fin and flinched, it was infected too. That would have to be dealt with before they could bind his ribs and they had no antidotes to fight the infection. 

It would have to be done the hard way.

“Prompto,” Ignis called and the blond’s attention was immediately on him, “I need you to set some water to boil. Use the two pots from my cooking supplies.” 

Prompto set the chair he was unfolding down and rushed to obey, filling the pots from the tiny spring leaking out of the rocks at the edge of the haven. Before long the two pots were heating on the fire that Gladiolus had built before returning to finish setting up the tent. Ignis stripped to his shirtsleeves – rolled to his elbows – and sterilized a dagger. 

Once the water had boiled and been allowed to cool to a more moderate temperature, Ignis cleaned his hands and set to work. Gladiolus watched impassively as he held Noctis down against the pain of Ignis reopening and scrubbing at the infected wound with hot water and antiseptic but Prompto was tearing up, hiccupping at each sound that left the semi-aware Noctis’ mouth.

He had to look away when Ignis produced the curved needle and suture in its sterile packet and only turned back when Ignis had finished stitching the wound closed and covering it with a compress. 

“Roll him over very carefully,” Ignis instructed. “Mind his ribs.” 

Between the three of them, they managed to get Noctis settled as comfortably as possible on his back without jostling him too much in the process. Prompto took over holding the prince down – while simultaneously comforting the both of them by running his fingers through the ebony strands of Noctis’ hair – as Gladiolus and Ignis worked together to clean and bind Noctis’ ribs tightly. 

That done, Gladiolus set to work on cleaning Noctis’ face and hair – with Prompto’s help – and discovered that the gash on his forehead was small enough to only require a plaster. He also rebound Noctis’ wrist with clean bandages while Ignis set to work on Noctis’ leg. 

The prince very suddenly came awake with a pained cry as Ignis began to scrub the injury clean. Gladiolus and Prompto had to quickly hold him down before he aggravated his broken rib. 

“Stop…stop…please,” Noctis sobbed, curling the fingers of his good hand in Gladiolus’ jacket. 

“Shh, shh. We’ve got to clean it, princess. It’ll be over soon.” The Shield moved to run his hand through Noctis’ hair soothingly but Noctis wasn’t listening or he couldn’t hear them. The prince continued to struggle weakly against the hands holding him down and wept, which had Prompto crying. The blond dropped his head to press his forehead against Noctis’. 

“It’s okay, Noct. It’s okay.” Noctis shook violently and continued to writhe with pain but he was growing steadily weaker and by the time Ignis had finished the gruesome task, Noctis was laying there limply with glassy eyes. 

“See if he can drink one of the potions,” Ignis said as he began stitching the gouges in the prince’s leg. Gladiolus gently manoeuvred Noctis into a semi-reclined position and accepted the potion that Prompto had opened. He drizzled a tiny quantity into the prince’s mouth, pulling back when he choked before he finally – thankfully – swallowed. 

Ignis had finished and had cleaned up by the time they had coaxed Noctis into drinking all the potion. Gladiolus very carefully lifted the young prince and carried him into the tent, nestling him down in the nest of blankets and sleeping bags. Ignis had followed him in to place a cool flannel across Noctis’ forehead and cover him with a light blanket. 

“All we can do now is let him sleep,” Ignis said, softly. “Try not to let him get covered by anything else, his fever is higher than I would like.” 

Gladiolus nodded and caught the advisor’s hand when Ignis made to crawl out of the tent. “We all need some sleep. You too, Specs.” 

“I will,” Ignis said, squeezing Gladiolus’ hand gently. “First though, I’m going to see if there is something I can whip up quickly. We’ve gone nearly twelve hours without eating anything.” 

The smile Ignis gave him then was surprisingly cheeky and made the advisor look not so much too old for his age, the pinched lines in his face softening. “Cup Noodles?” 

The Shield snorted, clapping a hand over his mouth before the sound disturbed Noctis. After the fit passed, he lowered his hand. “Cup Noodles,” he agreed solemnly and Ignis climbed out of the tent again.


	4. Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's finished! Last chapter! *Confetti* 
> 
> Thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed and left kudos. This story was fun and I had a good time writing it and reading your comments. Please enjoy this last chapter. <3

The potion had helped. 

Noctis’ breathing was easier than it had been when they had found him – Ignis had initially feared that his broken rib had been pressing against a lung, especially after Gladiolus having thrown him over his shoulder – and a quick check of the stitched wounds showed that the potion had sped up the healing process. 

It would still be a fairly long recovery though and potions didn’t do anything about his fever. Prompto stayed up with him through the rest of the night and that morning, checking him over constantly and changing the flannel when it grew too warm. He gently bathed the prince’s face, neck and shoulders with the flannel before rewetting it and placing it back over his brow. 

Ignis and Gladiolus slept restlessly on the other side of the prince, their strength spent and their still barely healed injuries forcing them to give up the watch to Prompto. It was sometime late morning when Ignis woke and set up, casting his eyes over Noctis as if to reassure himself that the prince was still breathing before looking at the dozing, exhausted Prompto. 

“Prompto? How is he?” The blond opened his eyes and blinked at Ignis, before reaching up to rub at his face blearily.

“He hasn’t woken up at all—” Prompto murmured and yawned, “…’scuse me – but he kept trying to kick his blanket off.” 

“Not surprising considering his fever,” Ignis said, pressing the back of his wrist to Noctis’ forehead. The advisor wasn’t sure but it certainly seemed that Noctis’ fever hadn’t gone down at all. 

“I took it off him for about an hour or two. Then he started shivering and I covered him back up.” Ignis looked up at the young man, taking in the obvious exhaustion and the glassiness of his eyes.

“Thank you, Prompto,” he said. “Can you stay awake long enough for me to make breakfast,” he glanced at his mobile phone’s clock, “or lunch, I suppose, and to eat?”

With a small murmur of assent from the gunner, Ignis crawled from the tent and into the dim daylight. A light rain misted the air and he hoped that it wouldn’t get any worst.

As he went about cooking, he put in a phone call to Cindy. The young woman was cheerful as always and more than happy to deliver the Regalia to them from the Emporium. She wouldn’t be able to until the next day but Ignis had assured her that that was fine. 

He doubted that they would be leaving the Malmalam Thicket until Noctis was – at the very least – no longer feverish. 

“Prompto?” Ignis said softly as he crawled into the tent. The blond turned bleary, exhausted eyes on him before he realized that Ignis was holding out a bowl of porridge and toast with jam. “Eat and then try to get some sleep. We won’t be moving from here for a few days at least.” 

“…yeah,” Prompto murmured and slurped his breakfast nosily.

“I smell food.” Gladiolus woke and reached up to rub his eyes. “Gods, I ache.”

Ignis chuckled, rewetting the flannel on Noctis’ brow. The prince was still unconscious but sleep was good for him right now. “What a sight we make this morning.” 

“How’s he doing?” Gladiolus asked, grunting as he sat up. His muscles protesting his movement after the strenuous activity of last night. Noctis was slim and light but even a small weight became a burden after carrying it at a dead run for several kilometres. 

Ignis sighed, his humour dissipating. “His fever isn’t any higher than when we went to sleep but it certainly isn’t any better.” 

Gladiolus nodded and grunted again as he began to crawl to the tent’s entrance. The stiffness of his movements and the slight limp was enough to tell the other two just how achy the Shield was feeling that morning. Prompto happily buried himself in Gladiolus’ abandoned blankets after finishing his breakfast but he didn’t go to sleep immediately, watching Ignis check over Noctis’ injuries. 

Gladiolus crawled back into the tent with his own bowl of food moments later and frowned at Prompto for taking his spot but just settled on the other side of the blond without protesting. 

Ignis crawled over to check the Shield’s bandages and, once satisfied with the examination, he handed him some muscle relaxers. “I called Cindy. She’ll bring the Regalia to us tomorrow.” 

Prompto immediately perked up at the mention of his favourite mechanic. “When? Can I go to meet her?” 

“If you wish. I’m sure she’ll be glad to see you,” Ignis said mock-gravely, a mischievous light in his eye. “Go to sleep Prompto.” 

The blond grumbled some but eventually exhaustion won out and he was sleeping peacefully a few minutes later. Gladiolus settled down and pulled out his novel, too tired and sore still to do anything more active. The comfortable, sleepy silence was broken some minutes later by Noctis groaning, the prince shifting about. 

“Noct?” Ignis asked, leaning over the younger man. Gladiolus half set up, his book on his chest to watch. 

“’S hot,” Noctis murmured and tore weakly at his blanket. Ignis helpfully removed it and Noctis settled again. 

“Noct? Noctis, can you hear me?” The prince’s eyes fluttered open and he looked up at Ignis but the advisor could tell that he wasn’t really lucid at the moment. Ignis sighed and grabbed a water bottle from the discarded pack nearby. “Try to drink a little.” 

He managed to get a few mouthfuls into the prince before Noctis shied away from him and, as soon as Ignis settled him back down, he was asleep again. Half an hour later, he was shivering and Ignis was obliged to drape the blanket back over him. 

“At least he woke up,” Gladiolus said. 

“I wouldn’t really call it awake,” Ignis mused. “But it is a good sign.”

Gladiolus hummed and went back to his novel. A short while later, the large man was asleep as well as the muscle relaxers fully took effect. Ignis stole his novel and settled down to read, pausing every few paragraphs to test Noctis’ temperature and change the flannel. 

Noctis woke three more times in the intervening hours before Prompto and Gladiolus woke again. He only stayed awake long enough to drink a few sips of water and was never coherent for any of them but Ignis took whatever victory he could. 

They fretted when Noctis’ fever spiked as darkness fell but it broke a little pass midnight, much to their relief. Now that the prince was no longer sleeping so restlessly, Ignis decided that he didn’t need watching so closely and bade the others to get some more sleep – they were all starting to look human again, according to Prompto. 

But they all still needed the extra sleep, he conceded, even as he and Gladiolus chafed at the lost time.

Prompto muttered something to Gladiolus and the Shield slapped him with a pillow, the blond sniggering. Ignis rolled his eyes and decided he didn’t want to know but he was sure the words ‘romance novel’ had been in there somewhere. The advisor placed his hand on Noctis’ chest so that any movement on the part of the prince would wake Ignis immediately and he fell asleep to the soft breathing and gentle snores of the others.

0-o-0-o-0

Awareness returned to him sluggishly. 

The only things Noctis was aware of at first was that he was surrounded by dim, grey-green light and that his whole body was nothing but a massive dull ache. For just a moment, he was afraid that he was still in that tiny niche in the bank screened by vegetation but that had confused him.

He couldn’t remember when he had been in a tiny niche covered by vegetation. 

Gradually, his vision cleared and he found himself staring up at the canopy of the tent and the lamp that hung from the truss arch. He was uncomfortably warm and the slightest shift in his position made him groan softly with discomfort. He turned his head lethargically to the side and when he found nothing there, he tilted his head the other way. 

He was alone in the tent. 

Something slid from his brow at his movement and he lifted a hand to grab at it, pausing as he saw the stiff bandages wrapped around his wrist. Unconcerned for the moment, he curled his fingers around the flannel that had been on his forehead. It was very warm. He let his hand drop, still wrapped around the cloth and stared blankly at the dangling lamp. 

He grunted and closed his eyes as his memory fully returned. That was right. The Sahagin hunt, the river, and the cove and hiding with desperate hope from daemons. He must have been found by the others at some point though he couldn’t remember anything after dragging himself across the ground to the hidden recess. 

He pushed himself up slightly, flinching at the spasm of pain it sent through his body, and removed the blanket covering him. He was clad only in a pair of boxer shorts so it was easy to see all the bandages wrapped around his chest and the ones wrapped about his leg. Slowly he replaced the blanket and settled back down, relaxing now that he knew he was safe.

He probably would have drifted back to sleep if a rustle from the tent’s entrance hadn’t disturbed him. 

Ignis crawled into the tent and settled beside him with a soft smile. “I’m glad to see you awake at last. How are you feeling?” 

“Not--” Noctis coughed at the painful rasp of his voice and he was grateful when Ignis held a bottle of cool water to his lips, cradling his head gently so he could sip it. “Not terrible,” he finished.

“But not good either?” Ignis inferred. Noctis gave him a tired grin. “You’ve been in and out of consciousness for the last twenty-four hours. I suppose you don’t remember any of the times you woke.”

It wasn’t really a question but Noctis shook his head anyways. “I don’t remember anything after the river spit me out in that cove and I crawled under the overhang.”

“Well, this is the first time you’ve been lucid in two days.” Ignis pressed the back of his wrist against Noctis’ forehead and frowned at the heat he could still feel radiating from the prince. “Your fever is much lower than it was but you’re still a little too hot for my liking.” 

“I think a few girls in grammar school would disagree with you,” Noctis joked. Ignis raised an eyebrow.

“You know, Prompto and I wondered if you ever noticed the gaggle of girls that followed you about. They never summoned up the courage to get very close but it was amusing nonetheless.” 

“Couldn’t be bothered.” Noctis shifted and grimaced at the ripple of pain it sent from his side. “Where is Prom?” 

“He and Gladio went to meet with Cindy at the car park. I called her yesterday after I awoke and asked her to bring the Regalia to us. We left it at the Emporium.” Ignis shuffled about for a moment and held a potion out. “Drink this please.” 

Noctis didn’t have the energy to protest and he settled back with a sigh as soon as the flask was empty. “Were any of you hurt by the Sahagins…or after?” 

“Gladio received some… _moderate_ injuries but he has been tended to and is doing very well. I had minor hurts that were dealt with.” Ignis ran his hand over the clean bandages wrapped around his arm pointedly. “Prompto didn’t receive so much as a scratch.” 

“Lucky sod.” 

“Indeed.” Ignis considered him a moment. “Are you capable of eating? You’ve gone too long without food and I would really prefer that you have something in your stomach before you go back to sleep.” 

Noctis hesitated, he really just wanted to go back to sleep but the clear concern in the older man’s eyes made him reconsider. “I can try.”

“That will be enough.” Ignis carefully helped him slip on a shirt before assisting the prince up and out of the tent. Noctis hadn’t really considered where they were and he looked around when he was no longer blinking from the bright daylight. 

“Where are we?” He asked as Ignis helped him into a chair, hissing at the pull of his muscles. 

“Telghey Haven in the Malmalam Thicket,” the advisor said and handed him a plate of soupy porridge, flavoured with minced up pieces of meat and vegetable. Noctis discovered he was very hungry after the first bite and was less hesitant about his ability to eat. He didn’t even protest the vegetables, though he did carefully eat around the carrots at least.

“I was washed all the way to the Thicket?”

“Not quite. We found you just below Fort Vaullerey and ran the rest of the way with you.” Noctis paused and stared at the remains on his plate.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a moment.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for,” Ignis said kindly. “There wasn’t anything any of us could have done differently to change the outcome. You’re safe now and with a few days’ rest, you’ll be back to pulling pranks with Prompto.”

“Aha.” Noctis looked sheepish. “The firecrackers?” 

“Invaluable for distracting daemons so that we could rescue injured princes,” Ignis smiled. “I would suggest, though, that you stick with smearing honey on Gladio’s hands while he sleeps or sneaking hair tint into his shampoo instead of whatever you were planning with the firecrackers.” 

Noctis had the decency to blush. “Right. We’ll do that.” 

“HE’S ALIVE!” Came an excited shout from the path to the haven and Prompto came sprinting into view, only just stopping himself from tackling Noctis. The thick bandages around the prince’s leg a stark reminder of the injuries he had received.

“Hey, Prom.” 

“How are you doing?” Prompto asked, sitting on his heels and resting his chin on the armrest of Noctis’ chair. Gladiolus came into the haven then and brightened visibly upon seeing Noctis awake and coherent. 

“Specs says I still have a fever but I feel much better than I did.” Prompto’s fingers fluttered up to his forehead and the prince sighed at the cool touch, not realizing until that moment how overwarm he still felt.

“You look better, princess,” Gladiolus said, settling into his own chair. Prompto didn’t seem inclined to move from his place by Noctis’ chair and settled down onto his knees. He really must have been worried…they all must have been worried, if Gladiolus’ intense scrutiny was anything to go by.

He looked at all of them for a moment and couldn’t help the smile that tugged incessantly at his lips. “Thank you. All of you.” 

“You’re quite welcome,” Ignis said, settling back into his chair. “The Regalia?” And this was directed at Gladiolus.

“Cindy parked her in the car park. She’s all fuelled up and ready to go.”

“We’re going to the mines next, right?” Noctis asked and was slightly taken aback by the alarmed expressions on the others’ faces. “I mean, after I heal of course,” he clarified hurriedly.

“Eventually,” Ignis said after a moment to collect himself. “But I think we need a little time to recover from this ordeal. I was thinking a holiday in Cape Caem or, perhaps, Lestallum.”

“Maybe even Hammerhead. I’m sure Cindy and Cid will have plenty of reasonable jobs we could undertake,” Gladiolus suggested and grinned mischievously as Prompto visibly perked up at the suggestion.

“Let’s do Hammerhead,” the blond begged, flicking eager eyes from Ignis to Noctis and back. Noctis snorted and began to laugh, Gladiolus’ barking laugh and Ignis’ more subdued, gasping laughter joined in a moment later. Prompto looked indignant for all of thirty seconds before he, too, succumbed to the mirth. 

The laughter died into chuckles after a minute or two and Noctis was wiping tears from his eyes. He relaxed into his chair and stared up at the clouds rolling across the sky. The others basking in the companionable quiet as well for a few moments.

“We’re still going to Hammerhead, right?” Prompto asked seriously and Noctis lost it again. 

_Finis_


End file.
